CREATORS. Question for folks who follow me for info, even your managers. Which brands, developers, and publishers are you looking to contact? Why I ask? We are ramping up for one of the biggest shows of the year: The Game Awards. Lots of brands are preparing announcements, marketing beats, and plans. It's especially quiet because everyone is prepping for the GTA tidal wave. What does that mean? 1) This is a time of preparation. Building lists, crafting campaigns, and identifying community leaders 2) This is the time to craft YOUR ideas. Remember, you are the ones who can really push the envelope on unique ideas. If they don't bite, they share have the vision (or they don't have the budget) I know the typical AAA devs are always on the list, but I ask you to expand and look for games outside of that realm. You can see plenty of devs have strong marketing teams, and they love cool ideas. Why are you doing this? IDGAF anymore; it's fun I'm watching creators I believe in miss out on opportunities at various levels because they don't have contact info. I am watching developer friends leave millions of dollars on the table because of a lack of systematic operations. Most agents and creators pitch the logical thing: a sponsored video, a rate, a list of deliverables. It’s sensible, and it’s what every other creator in the inbox is pitching. Logic gets you to the same place as everyone else. The pitch that gets a yes isn’t the one that costs least. It’s the one that makes the person on the other side feel like they discovered something. A weird idea for a mid-size studio beats a safe idea for a AAA publisher, because the mid-size studio gets to look clever for saying yes. The suits in AAA literally can't afford the risk right now, and you can see it in their campaigns. The Opportunity is real This isn’t a side budget anymore. Various forecasts project US media creator revenue at $21.1 billion in 26, more than double what it was in 22. Nearly half of that spend now goes to nano and micro creators, up from under a fifth a few years ago. Most of you have brands ASKING YOU for content they can't make themselves. I know the typical AAA devs are always on the list. I’m asking you to expand. Plenty of studios outside that realm have strong marketing teams and smaller inboxes, and they love a cool idea. They are also far more likely to answer. Get away from the typical Brands. The smart ones aren’t buying reach. They’re buying fit. That’s good news for anyone who isn’t a top-50 channel. lmk!

(Finally) Sharing this now because I'm excited. My contribution to the GTA VI launch will be "Grand Chef Auto". This is 100% the next book I want to work on because of the culinary opportunities available in a modern Vice City. Cuba, South American, Deep South, and Caribbean Cuisine all hit hard here. I also see this as a way to collab with other Chefs who may not be able to whip up their own cookbooks, and I want to make sure many of them are seen. There are recipes, menus, and dishes all over the game, just like in Los Santos; you just need the eye to see them. (Seriously, even the strip clubs have menus) So if you wanna know one of 3 things I'm doing in my free time, this is one of them.